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Article published In:
Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict
Vol. 11:1 (2023) ► pp.121–143

Dualisms in Jihad

The role of metaphor in creating ideological dichotomies

ORCID logo | Universidad de Granada
This paper explores how metaphors are employed in jihadist magazines to promote a dichotomist worldview of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, ‘good’ versus ‘bad’, ‘east’ versus ‘west’ and ‘right’ versus ‘wrong’. It argues that juxtapositions in both language and thought help writers to reaffirm and/or challenge certain paradigms. The approach uses critical metaphor analysis (Charteris-Black 2004) to investigate qualitative evidence of conceptual metaphors, focusing on the domains life is a seed, conflict is a relationship between predator and prey, and faith is light/lack of faith is darkness. Dichotomous language in these domains (e.g., ‘seed’ versus ‘weed’; ‘sheep’ versus ‘wolves’; the ‘spark of Jihad’ versus the ‘shadow’ of Western governments) helps to position extremist groups on the right side of a number of paradigms. The use of binary metaphors also permits simultaneously conflicting conceptualisations; for instance, jihadists are both innocent victims and merciless defenders of their faith, depending on with whom or what they are juxtaposed. The research concludes that the use of binary metaphors serves to underscore entrenched paradigms of ‘good’ versus ‘bad’, thus allowing the writers to frame their discourse in a way that justifies and promotes their extremist agenda.
Keywords: metaphor, critical metaphor analysis, extremism, jihadism
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1The (extreme) discourse of jihadism
    • 2.2Metaphor and ideology
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Data: The magazines
    • 3.2Theoretical framework and procedure of analysis
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Conflict as a prey versus predator relationship
    • 4.2‘Seed’ versus ‘weed’
    • 4.3Light of faith / heat of conflict
    • 4.4Superhero vs. villain
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Links
Published online: 25 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00075.pat
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